The 7 Secrets of Neuron Leadership

Chapter 6Generous Tin Woodsman—Neuron Secret Three

I shall take the heart, for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.

—TIN WOODSMAN (FIGURE 6.1) IN THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ

Figure 6.1 Tin Woodsman

Source: Anna Velichkovsky, Dreamstime.com.

NEURON SECRET THREE

The Principle of Generosity: Give not to receive, but only to fill your heart with joy

Lance De Jong is a Vice President of North American Sales for Oracle. He concurs that it is important for leaders to care for the members of their team, and a good way to do that is to generously offer your time and wisdom as a mentor. He recalls, earlier in his career, being mentored by a man named John who informed Lance that if he wanted to be mentored, he had to abide by three rules. One, Lance had to bring the questions to John. This forced Lance to do his homework and come prepared with questions for his mentor. Two, Lance had to honor and respect the time commitment. They would never cancel or reschedule unless a life‐threatening situation forced them to do so. Three, Lance needed to be a river and not a reservoir. He had to agree to pass on what he'd learned from John to someone else.

“In my first lesson with John,” Lance said. “He challenged me to do my homework and write down and memorize my primary six core values. What did I stand for? What defined me? I thought I knew, but John ...